Nepal: 626 dead, more than 3,000 missing in flash flood
by Lisa Hornung · UPIAug. 29 (UPI) -- The lake that threatened to overflow in the flood-ravaged area of Nepal is now empty, causing less anxiety of more flash flooding, but coming rains could threaten the area again.
The death toll is now at 626, with more than 3,000 people missing, the Nepalese disaster relief agency reported Saturday.
There are still 90 Americans missing, the U.S. State Department said, adding that it is "not aware" of any American deaths, The New York Times reported. The United States is also sending $500,000 for emergency efforts in Nepal, the department said.
"This is a hard area to reach at the best of times, made even more so given this catastrophe," State Department Spokesperson Tommy Piggott said. "But we're committed to getting that humanitarian assistance in."
Great Britain has pledged $6.8 million, and the European Union has pledged $2.3 million to the effort.
One of the two lakes that formed in the aftermath of the flood had threatened to breach but is now "essentially drained," China's state broadcaster CCTV reported. As of Saturday evening local time, the first lake is "currently experiencing normal natural outflow," CCTV said, citing China's Ministry of Water Resources, CNN reported.
A border crossing that was engulfed by an enormous wave of muddy water at the Nepal-Tibet border, seen in a video circulated widely on social media, shows "no sign of survivors," and "no discernible outline of any structures," at Gyirong Port, a land port and crossing, rescue workers told Chinese state media.
"The buildings within the mudslide's impact zone have largely been flattened, with no discernible outline of any structures," Liu Maolin, a rescue team leader, told state broadcaster CCTV. "The ground is covered by thick layers of mud and rubble, with extensive and deep deposits, while the port's infrastructure has been particularly severely damaged."
But the team "will never give up as long as there is even the slightest hope," Liu said.
The death toll released by China, which controls Tibet, is now at seven, but with 554 listed as missing.
Nepal's hydroelectric operations have said that 900 workers are missing from 14 hydropower projects along the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli Rivers.
"Many engineers are probably dead," Dinesh Paudel, a geographer at Appalachian State University who has studied development in Nepal, told The New York Times. He said on Friday that he hadn't heard from a friend who worked on one of the projects.
The sites are often built by Chinese companies and staffed by poor Nepali laborers, Paudel said.
Five rescuers with tunnel expertise arrived from China Saturday, and four more were on their way to help find people trapped in tunnels, which are part of the hydroelectric projects, CNN reported that Chinese state news agency Xinhua said. They immediately joined the rescue effort in tunnels.
Nepal's Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal told a press conference that the country has asked for specific and specialized help from neighboring countries.
Nepalese officials have also asked for equipment, such as freezers, as the amount of human remains grows. Officials in the Chitwan district, who have been dealing with a large amount of human remains, said they will bury the bodies in a mass grave.
Of the 233 bodies recovered in Chitwan, only four have been identified, said Ganesh Aryal, Chitwan's chief district officer, CNN reported. Before they are buried, DNA samples will be taken for later identification, Aryal said.
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